Nasdaq Down 50 Points; US Small Business Optimism Index Drops In April

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping over 50 points on Tuesday.

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.08% to 33,593.40 while the NASDAQ fell 0.48% to 12,198.35. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.38% to 4,122.42.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Communication services shares jumped by 0.4% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included EverQuote, Inc. EVER, up 18%, and Vivid Seats Inc. SEAT, up 18%.
• In trading on Tuesday, materials shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 89 in April, recording the lowest level since January 2013, compared to 90.1 in the prior month.

Equities Trading UP

• TScan Therapeutics, Inc. TCRX shares shot up 138% to $5.11 after the company and Amgen announced collaboration to identify novel targets in Crohn's disease.
• Shares of Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. ENSC got a boost, shooting 60% to $5.50 after the company announced completion of PF614-MPAR-101, a clinical study examining its first pain medication with overdose protection, PF614-MPAR.
• Novavax, Inc. NVAX shares were also up, gaining 41% to $10.52 after the company reported mixed Q1 financial results and issued FY23 revenue guidance above estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Ohmyhome Limited OMH shares dropped 50% to $12.86 after jumping around 329% on Monday.
• Shares of Trevena, Inc. TRVN were down 29% to $2.2007. Trevena is expected to to release its financial results for the first quarter on May 15, 2023.
• Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ENTA was down, falling 29% to $24.24 after the company reported Q2 results and announced topline results from Phase 2 SPRINT trial evaluating EDP-235 in standard risk patients with COVID-19.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $72.77 while gold traded up 0.1% at $2,034.70.

Silver traded down 0.2% to $25.795 on Tuesday while copper fell 0.6% to $3.9045.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.6% The German DAX fell 0.4%, French CAC 40 dipped 1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.6%.

France recorded a current account surplus of EUR 1.4 billion in March versus a revised EUR 1.5 billion gap in the prior month. France's trade deficit also shrank to EUR 8 billion in March. The Halifax house price index rose 0.1% year-over-year in April following a 1.6% increase in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropping 2.12% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 1.10%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.1%.

Chinese trade surplus widened to $90.2 billion in April from $49.5 billion in the year-ago period. Household spending in Japan fell by 1.9% year-over-year in March, while average cash earnings in Japan increased by 0.8% year-over-year in March.

Economics

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 89 in April, recording the lowest level since January 2013, compared to 90.1 in the prior month.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 106,771,290 cases with around 1,162,470 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,972,800 cases and 531,700 deaths, while France reported over 40,021,940 COVID-19 cases with 166,810 deaths. In total, there were at least 687,944,490 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,871,730 deaths.